Links 20 December 2018

Global Macro / Markets / Investing:

• Our pick of the decade’s eight best young economists – The Economist
• Alan Greenspan to investors: ’Run for cover’ – CNN
• Elon Musk’s SpaceX Is Raising $500 Million in Funding – WSJ
• Tragedy of the Commons: 50 Years Later – Conversable Economist
• ‘It’s Been a Rout’: Apple Stumbles in World’s Largest Untapped Market – WSJ
• The stock market is on pace for its worst December since the Great Depression – CNBC
• Tech Unicorns Are Going Public at Near-Record Pace – WSJ

Americas:

• Trump agrees to shut down his charity amid allegations he used it for personal and political benefit – Politico
• Trump Foundation to Close After Lawsuit by New York Attorney General – NY Times
• Elizabeth Warren Plan Would Allow the Government to Manufacture Its Own Generic Drugs – The Intercept
• Corporate America gives out a record $1 trillion in stock buybacks – CNN
• Shrinking the Fed’s balance sheet – Brookings
• As Fed Begins Meeting, Trump Again Calls for No Rate Increase – WSJ

Europe:

• Brexit deal hinges on final bid to win over DUP, say senior Tories – The Guardian
• Polling shows growing support for staying in EU – In Facts
• Working but homeless: a tale from England’s housing crisis – FT
• No-deal Brexit plans put 3,500 troops on standby – The Guardian
• More than £2 billion Brexit preparation funding awarded to departments for a successful EU exit – Gov.uk
• EU no-deal Brexit guidance – EU

Asia:

• China’s Bizarre Program to Keep Activists in Check – New Yorker
• On Anniversary of China’s Reforms, Xi Doubles Down on Party Power – NY Times
• China: Emergence of a Trade Leviathan – WSJ
• Trump’s Trade War With China Makes Russia Great Again – Council on Financial Relations
• China’s censors have leapt the Great Firewall to police tweets – QZ
• China’s interference in the 2018 elections succeeded — in Taiwan – Washington Post
• Japan unveiled new plans for an F-35 aircraft carrier — and it’s a Chinese navy killer – Business Insider

Trans-Tasman:

• Feds ‘out of touch’ on climate: NSW govt – SBS
• Coalition has an energy vision: No more renewables, or emission cuts, before 2030 – Renew Economy
• Fewer than one in 10 interns scores a job, raising doubts over government program – The Age
• Nationals in crisis as scandals engulf party and threaten its future at federal election – ABC
• Rudd says Murdoch media is a “political party” – The Conversation
• APRA to remove banks’ interest-only lending restrictions – ABC
• Extreme heat wipes out almost one third of Australia’s spectacled flying fox population – ABC
• ‘They desperately need this’: Newstart recipients’ hopes dashed by Labor – The Guardian
• Expert attacks Centrelink robo-debt and ‘moral bankruptcy’ that allows it – The Guardian
• Here’s a long-term budget fix that would boost investment: replace company tax with cashflow tax – The Conversation
• Australian politics is broken: Sack everyone, bulldoze Parliament – News.com.au
• Service providers call for Parents Next overhaul after families left without food – The Guardian
• Andrew Broad used taxpayer funds for part of his bombshell Hong Kong ‘sugar baby’ trip – The SMH
• Minimum wage to go up to $17.70 an hour on April 1  – Interest.co.nz
• First home buyers battling rising house prices & higher interest rates – Interest.co.nz